▎ 摘　　要

Due to strong in-plane covalent bonds and weak out-of-plane van der Waals forces, graphene layers can bend easily to form curved structures. In this research, curved graphene films were grown on metallic dendrites as the molten alloys of Ni-Cu and Ni-Al solidified inside a graphitic crucible. During the melting process, due to solidification shrinkage the liquid in between the growing dendrites were decanted and left behind exposed dendrites wetted by a thin molten blanket. The blanket eventually froze and rejected carbon which crystallized as curved graphene layers conforming to dendrites. The curved films were studied with detailed Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The examined layers possessed high degree of perfection and were as thin as a few layers. They also consisted of faceted out-of-plane wrinkles due to thermal expansion coefficient mismatch with the metallic substrate. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.